BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Brevard County leaders are warning residents to brace themselves for the impact of Subtropical Storm Nicole after Gov. DeSantis announced a state of emergency for the county.
The county is expected to see major impacts from Nicole from late Wednesday through Thursday, with beach erosion, flooding and life-threatening rip tides being some of the main concerns.
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On Monday, Brevard County Emergency Management Director John Scott warned those who live along county beaches to start preparing for high levels of surf.
Areas that struggled with flooding from Hurricane Ian are expected to flood again as Nicole makes its way through the county, Scott said.,
“From a surge standpoint, we’re talking 2-4 (inches), so very manageable for us. Winds are going to be an issue, and then flooding; flooding is still a thing for us,” Scott said. “While we have had a little bit of time for water to go down, not enough time for it to really get down, so we’re talking 4-6 inches of rain.”
Following Ian, flooding issues caused sewage overflow in Brevard County and approximately 7.2 million gallons of sewage to spill into the Indian River Lagoon.
“Use this time to get prepared,” he said. “You know, break out that (hurricane) kit that you just probably put away, restock what you can and be prepared again: some winds, some flooding, those kinds of things as we look forward.”
Sheriff Wayne Ivey said all voting locations will remain open Tuesday for the midterm elections. Ivey said the storm is not expected to hit until later in the evening, and he encouraged residents to go out to vote.
Ivey said potential school or public facility closures would be announced by Tuesday before Nicole is expected to make landfall in Florida.
He added that sandbag locations will be set up at Wickham Park in Melbourne and 855 Camp Road in Cocoa. Brevard residents will be able to stop by these locations to pick up free sandbags on Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“If you’re needing sandbags, we’ll have the inmate crews out there working. They worked so hard during the last storm,” Ivey said. “Literally 60,000+ sandbags were delivered, so our teams will be out.”
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